A Tale of Two Dixons
by cassio1965
Summary: What if Merle and Daryl had a sister and what if she was as tough as them?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

Daryl and Lexi Dixon had been away from the camp, hunting, for a good twelve hours. They had managed to catch at least a dozen squirrel and they were now tracking the ultimate prize. The stag was beginning to falter due to blood loss and they were herding it towards camp. Suddenly the stag got one last burst of energy and took off in the direction of the quarry. Daryl looked across at Lexi and smirked, all they had to do was keep on its trail and hopefully it would fall close to the quarry and then they would eat like kings that night.

The brother and sister duo never said a word to each other on the trek back, both liking the comfortable silence that surrounded them in the woods. They were usually silent and distrustful of other people, and tended to let Merle do most of the talking, even if the outcome wasn't always pleasant for everybody concerned. They both knew that to the rest of the group. the Dixon clan were a bit of an enigma.

The eldest, Merle was tall, rough and loud. He had opinions on everybody and everything, and was not frightened to voice them . He was argumentative at best and violent at his worst. The group couldn't keep up with his constant mood swings, which his siblings knew were brought on by his habitual drug use, and so tried to avoid contact with Merle as much as possible. Neither Daryl nor Lexi ever stood up to Merle and always took his side in any disagreements with other members of the group. It wasn't that they approved of what he said, it was just that kin was kin and Merles' fists were quick to get that point across.

Lexi was the middle Dixon. She was ten years younger than Merle and three years older than Daryl. Both brothers were very protective of their sister in different ways. Merle was threatening towards any perceived insult or sexual advances against his sister. Lexi was sure it was more about Merle liking to fight than defending her honour. Daryl was much more supportive and caring of her, both emotionally and physically. Although none of them were into big public displays of affection, Daryl would squeeze her shoulder as he passed or catch her eye and smile at her, as a form of reassurance in a crowd. Lexi loved Merle, but she adored Daryl and was just as protective of him. They were more alike in both looks and personality and when Daryl had a growth spurt in his teens, people often mistook them for twins.

Daryl was the baby of the family. Merle never ceased to remind him of that fact by calling him 'baby brother' at every opportunity he got. He was also very quick to list all Daryls' shortcomings as he saw them. This brought out major insecurities with Daryl that often resulted in anger towards anybody who he felt had slighted or insulted him. Lexi was the exception to that rule, he took her criticism as constructive and always listened to her point of view. He knew that she would always have his back and just wanted the best for him. Lexi often told Daryl that he was a good and honest man and that he shouldn't take Merles' words to heart. She had cared for and believed in him since he could remember.

As the pair neared the camp, they could hear what sounded like a fight and they both hoped that Merle wasn't involved. As they broke into the clearing, the first thing they saw were the men of the group standing in a semi circle with their weapons raised as if to attack. The second thing they noticed was the dead stag and the remains of a walker that had obviously been enjoying a free meal. Daryls temper flared at the sight and he proceeded to kick and swear at the walker. Lexi watched the group as they took a step back from the irate redneck.

"Calm down son, that's not going to help." Dale, the eldest of the group said, in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

Daryl swirled round and was instantly in Dales face

"What do ya know about it old man, why don't ya take ya stupid hat an go back to On Golden Pond." He sneered.

Lexi didn't even try to hide the smirk on her face as she walked forward to stand next to her brother. Daryl crouched down next to the stag and examined the neck area where the walker had been chewing,

"Think we could cut round this chewed up area?" He asked hopefully, looking up at Lexi.

"I wouldn't recommend that." She answered with a slight smile on her lips.

"Damn shame, could have cooked us all up some venison for a change." He sighed.

Daryl then showed the group the string of squirrels that they had caught and muttered how they would have to do. With a quick jerk of his head, Daryl indicated that Lexi should follow him into camp and started to walk away shouting for Merle. The men watched Daryl depart silently and Lexi watched the men, that's when she noticed the new face amongst them. The man turned towards her as if he knew he was being watched and Lexi raised her eyebrow at him before pushing past them to follow Daryl into camp.

The group of men followed them out of the bushes and watched as the Dixons laid down their weapons on a nearby table. The rest of the camp stood nervously by the RV, everybody knew this was not going to go well. Shane took a few steps forward,

"Daryl...Lexi, hold up a second will you. It's about Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta."

The duo slowly turned round to face Shane,their expressions unreadable,

"what sorta problem?" Lexi asked, Daryl looked at all their faces before turning again to Shane and demanding "He dead?"

"We don't know." Shane admitted quietly.

At this statement, both of the siblings looked even more annoyed and slightly confused, "Either he is or he ain't." Daryl sneered.

"No easy way to say this,so I'll just say it."

Lexi quickly turned her head and saw the mystery man step forward.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"Rick Grimes."

Daryl, who was getting more frustrated by the second, paced towards the man.

"Rick Grimes." He scoffed "You got something you wanna tell us?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Lexi gave Rick a disgusted look before turning her attention to her brother. Daryl was pacing back and forth. He was clearly upset and Lexis heart broke a little as she noticed the tears in his eyes.

Daryl shouted angrily "let me process this, you saying you handcuffed our brother to a roof and you LEFT HIM THERE?"

Rick gave a guilty look as he answered "Yeah."

The next minute, all hell broke loose. Daryl threw the squirrels at Rick and went to attack him. All the men moved forward to help but stopped short when they found themselves facing the barrel of Lexis gun.

Shane made a grab for Daryl who by this time had his knife out and managed to get the youngest Dixon in a strangle hold.

As Rick crouched down to try and reason with Daryl, Lexi moved quietly to stand behind Shane, neither men were aware she was there until they heard the safety being taken off the gun and Lexis cold voice saying "You best let him go, choke holds are illegal."

Shane smirked as he said "So file a complaint." He soon stopped laughing though as he heard the soft click of the gun and Lexis voice next to his ear as she whispered "give me one more fucking reason, I dare you."

Rick could see that the situation was beginning to escalate, with a quick nod of his head at Shane, who released Daryl, he said "I just want a calm discussion about this, do you think we can manage that?"

Lexi put the safety back on the gun and knelt down beside Daryl. Rick noted that neither sibling put their weapons away, but that they both appeared to be listening to him.

"What I did was not on a whim, your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick explained. Just then another voice broke into the conversation.

"It's not Ricks fault, I had the key, I dropped it." Daryl and Lexi both looked up at T-Dog with astonishment on their faces.

"You couldn't just pick it up?" Lexi asked.

"Well I dropped it down a drain." T-Dog admitted.

Daryl dropped his head down and a small sob could be heard, Lexi on the other hand gave T-Dog a look of pure loathing as she gently stroked Daryls hair to comfort him. Daryl and Lexi both rose to their feet.

"If that's supposed to make us feel better, it don't" Daryl said.

"Well this might, I chained the door closed so the geeks can't get him." T-Dog replied as he looked to Rick for support.

"That has to count for something." Rick said, in what he hoped was a comforting voice.

Daryl and Lexi looked at each other before turning once again to the group.

"Y'all can go to hell." Lexi screamed at them, while Daryl stared directly at Rick as he said, "Just tell me where he is, so's I can go get him."

"He'll do better than that, he'll show you. Ain't that right Rick?" Lori, Ricks wife, answered bitterly before turning away and climbing into the RV.

Within a couple of hours the rescue party going back to Atlanta were nearly ready to depart. There had been a lot of discussions within the group about why anyone other than the Dixons should risk their lives to save Merle. Rick had argued about the humanitarian reasons and had also casually let slip the information about the bag of guns. Unfortunately he had been overheard by Lexi.

Biting back her anger, she had gone straight to Daryl with this information.

"I really think I should come with you to Atlanta. Those assholes don't care about Merle, they want to get the bag of guns, I could watch your back, help find Merle and then we can split outta here, taking the guns with us." Lexi argued.

Daryl shook his head "No Lexi, all our stuff is here, you need to keep it safe till we get back. Y'Know that Merle's going to be bringing vengeance back to camp, ya need to be ready to hightail outta here and then we can kiss these sons of bitches goodbye."

Lexi nodded, she knew that Daryl wouldn't take the guns off these people and leave them defenceless no matter how angry he was. She also knew that really he wanted her to be safe as there was no telling what mood Merle was going to be in when they found him.

As they walked side by side to the box van, Lexi turned to Daryl and said "Just be safe and get back as soon as you 't you dare leave me with these shits for too long. I can't promise what condition they'll be in when you get back, if you do."

As Lexi and the rest of the crowd watched them drive away, nobody had any idea how prophetic her words were.

TBC


	2. Chapte r2

Chapter 2

An hour had passed since the men had left and Lexi, with nothing better to do, had gone down to the lake to wash their clothes. She never joined the other women or offered to do anyone else's laundry. If the truth were known, she couldn't stand the group.

As she sat sunning herself on a rock some distance away, she thought back on her life. Her early years had not been easy, constant violence and alcohol abuse had been the norm in the Dixon household. Either you learned to duck and fight back or you became a victim and Lexi refused to be a victim.

Both she and her brothers had numerous scars on their bodies as a testament to their defiance to just roll over and take their punishments. Their father was a sadistic bully and their mother was a weak and pathetic alcoholic. Both parents had died as they lived, their mother had passed out drunk with a cigarette in her hand and had not only killed herself but had also managed to burn the family home down as well. Their father on the other hand had died in a bar fight some years later. The Dixon siblings had a small party the night they got the news. The neighbours thought it was some kind of wake, but in reality it was more a goodbye to bad years and hello to happier times.

Lexi heard laughing coming from the lake and looked across at Carl and Shane trying to catch frogs, she smirked to herself as she wondered how Shane felt about his little dream family coming to an abrupt end with the appearance of Rick. Suddenly Lori appeared into view, shouting at Carl to go back to camp, As he trudged away, Lexi could see that there was some sort of disagreement happening between Lori and Shane. Probably telling him that the sex has to stop, Lexi thought to herself. She knew that they thought they were being discreet, but honestly, everyone knew. Dumb cop, even dumber bitch.

Lexi then turned her attention to the women, none of them spoke to her anymore unless it was absolutely necessary. You only had to be on the receiving end of one of Lexis stares to realise that unless it was a life or death situation involving her brothers, it wasn't worth it.

As the womens laughter got louder, Lexi watched as a man she had nicknamed "the gorilla" sauntered towards them. He looked really pissed off and when he was up close to them he demanded to know what was so funny. Lexi noticed the way his wife's head went down and she knew the wife wouldn't be answering that question. The women carried on with the laundry while the gorilla stood watch. Obviously this kind of observation started to annoy the uppity blonde woman. Lexi watched as she stood up to face the man.

"If you don't like the way we wash your clothes Ed,then do it yourself." The blonde said as she tossed the shirt at his chest.

Lexi sat forward, now it was getting interesting, Ed threw the wet shirt back at the startled woman.

"Ain't my job lady." He sneered.

"What is your job Ed?" the blonde asked in a superior tone that Lexi knew never boded well with men like Ed.

"Ain't listening to some jumped up college educated whore like you that's for sure. Now I'm done talking" Ed growled out, then turning to his wife he said "Come on, you're done here."

The other women all jumped to Carol's defence and told her she didn't have to leave. Carol shushed the women and tried to calm Ed down, this of course, had the opposite effect and moments later Carol was on the ground sporting a bust lip.

Lexi stayed where she was, watching the drama unfold, she only stood up when Shane ran over and proceeded to beat the shit out of Ed before he stormed off. The rest of the group looked on in bewilderment as Carol ran to comfort and apologise to Ed.

Calmly picking up her washing, Lexi started to make her way up to camp only to be confronted by an irate Andrea and her posse,

Why the hell didn't you try to help us?" Andrea practically screamed in her face. "You pretend to be so tough and yet you just stood there and let him do that to Carol."

"What did you want me to do, Take the beating for her or shoot him?" Lexi asked with a look of boredom on her face.

"I didn't expect you to be such a coward." Andrea shot back. "You obviously hide behind your brothers and only act like them when they're around."

Within seconds of finishing that sentence Andrea found herself pinned to the floor with a knife at her throat. Lexi's face was inches from hers and Andrea could see the murderous look in lexis's ice cold eyes.

"I would strongly advise you to keep your opinions to yourself." Lexi said through gritted teeth. "I would hate to have to hurt you to prove you wrong."

Lexi rose to her feet and turned to the other women, "does anyone else want to contribute to this discussion?" she asked mockingly.

Andrea's sister Amy stepped forward, "Why didn't you help?" she asked with a touch of apprehension.

"I have my reasons; one of them being it ain't my problem or fight. Why put yourself in the firing line if there's nothing to be gained, best to just walk away." Lexi shrugged.

Andrea stood to her feet, muttering about uneducated hicks with no feelings. Lexi turned and said"Would you care to repeat that?"

"I said a little compassion wouldn't hurt, not that I expect you to understand that word." Andrea said in a condescending voice.

"I understand perfectly and you're wrong on both counts, feelings do hurt and so does a punch. Now I suggest that you gang of witches get out of my way and leave me be." And with that Lexi stormed back to camp.

Lexi sat on the edge of the camp, whet stoning her knives. She had already stripped and cleaned her gun and was now in the process of cleaning her short sword. She was rather proud of this particular weapon and had honed the blade till it was razor sharp. She carried it in a leather holster on her back and she was deadly accurate with it. She always had her gun concealed in the waistband of her jeans and various hunting knives strapped about her person. Lexi knew she could look after herself and her brothers were quite happy to let her fight her own battles when needed.

It had been a couple of hours since her run in with Andrea and Lexi was feeling quite calm at that moment. Of course that changed in seconds when the sisters appeared carrying lines of fish they had caught. Everyone in camp gushed about how skilled the girls were and thanked them profusely. Lexi gave a disgusted snort and Lori turned towards her.

"Do you have a problem?" Lori asked, looking Lexi up and down.

"Yeah I do." Lexi shot back. "My brothers have been out hunting everyday we've been in camp and have always brought meat back. You sorry pricks have never once said thanks and just took it for granted. Princess Perfect and her sidekick come back with a few fish and you're nearly crawling up their asses, so excuse me if I'm not kissing their feet. It takes real skill to hunt in the woods, any idiot can hook a few fish."

Before another Lexi centred row could kick off. Dale interrupted "Guys, I think we may have a problem."

The group stood and watched Shane try to reason with Jim. It was obvious the man had some form of sunstroke. Lori told Jim that he was frightening the group and Lexi raised her eyebrows at this. Jim certainly was not frightening her, if he wanted to dig holes in the heat that was his problem. Lexi turned to walk away when she heard a scuffle behind her, Shane was strong arming Jim back down to camp., where he then tied Jim to a tree in an attempt to cool him.

In the evening, it was decided to have a fish fry. Lexi declined to be a part of the festivities, she knew she was being childish but quite frankly, she just wanted her brothers to return and then they could leave these no hopers to it. She had thought they would have been back by now, but stamped down any worrying and negative thoughts. Daryl and Merle were quite capable of handling themselves; even so she was missing them.

She sat on the outside of the circle and only ate the food from her own tent. Lexi listened to all the banal chat and never once volunteered an opinion. She watched as Amy got up to go to the RV amidst laughter from the group.

As the rest of them carried on chatting, Lexi thought she heard a moan come from the direction of the tents, she stopped eating and listened carefully for any further noise. Her hand went automatically for her knife and at the same moment that Amy popped back out of the RV,Lexi saw the first walker appear out of the trees.

Lexi sprung to her feet and shouted at Amy to move, but it was too late, the walker sank its teeth into Amys arm. Lexi was already up and running towards the walker as the rest of the group stood in a panic. As Lexi neared Amy, she saw the walker take a bite of Amys neck and she plunged her knife into its skull. Turning round all she could see was pandemonium, the women of the group were screaming and crying and everywhere she looked there were walkers appearing out of the forest. Most of the men had picked up weapons and were hitting any walker close to them. Lexi pulled her sword off her back and ran towards the action, decapitating a number of walkers in the process. There seemed to be more zombies than the small group could cope with and Lexi vaguely wondered how she was going to get out of this. As she was about to turn and swing again she felt the grasping hand of a walker on her arm, its mouth opened to take a bite and Lexi couldn't get enough purchase to turn and stab it. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain, instead she felt a slight rush of air and the walker fell backwards. Opening her eyes, she saw a bolt protruding from the walkers skull. Lexi looked up into the blue eyes of her younger brother. Daryl nodded his chin at her before turning and opening fire on the rest of the walkers. Lexi had never felt like crying more in her life, the relief at seeing Daryl made her weak, but she toughened up and began to shoot the remaining zombies along with the rest of the men.

When the last walker had been put down, the camp surveyed the damage. Amy lay dead on the floor with Andrea crying beside her. They had lost a number of their group and those corpses would have to be taken care of.

Lexi walked to stand next to Daryl, she looked around her before peering up at her brother,

"Where is he?" she asked, "Why isn't he here?"

Daryl sighed and explained about finding Merles hand on the roof, the kidnapping of Glen and about them having to walk back to camp.

Lexi felt her blood begin to boil and before Daryl could stop her she marched up to Rick and punched him in the face. Shane moved forward and Lexi brought her elbow up and caught the side of his nose, just for good measure as she was pulled away she kicked T-Dog in the groin.

"What the hell was that?" Daryl demanded as he swung her around to face him. They were stood away from the group.

Lexi ignored the question and instead asked "When are we leaving?"

Daryl looked at her as he answered "I think we should stay with them a while. Y'know safety in numbers. Just till we find Merle."

The group watched silently as Lexi kicked Daryl in the shin before storming into her tent.

Rick looked at Shane and said "We may have a bigger problem with those two than we do with the walkers."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lexi spent the rest of the night fuming in her tent, consequently when she did appear the next morning, the group gave her a wide berth. Well everyone except Daryl, he stormed up to her and growled "If you weren't family, I'd beat your ass for that little stunt last night."

"Well go on then. Hit me if you think that's what you should do." Lexi snarled back. "After all you learnt from the best, but I warn you now you'd better kill me with the first blow, cos if I get up again, I will batter you."

Daryl's face softened and he gave a small lopsided grin "You know me better than that sis, I'd never hit you or any woman, I was just mad at these pricks and pissed when you kicked me, that fucking hurt by the way."

"Good it was meant too." Lexi replied smiling herself. "It's good to have you back, yesterday was hell on earth here." Lexi then filled Daryl in on her adventures with the rest of the group and Daryl told his story about Rick giving the Vatos some of the guns and how he believed Merle had driven off in the van.

As they walked into camp, they could see Andrea still sitting beside her dead sister. Everyone else was stood to the side talking about what to do. Lexi heard Daryl mutter "For fucks sake" as he strode towards the group.

"I think we should just leave her for the moment." They heard Lori say.

"What and let her hamstring us?" Daryl asked.

"The girl's a walking time bomb for god sake." Lexi added.

"So what do we do?" rick looked around for advice.

"Take the shot. Damn I could hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." Daryl stated and Lexi nodded her head in agreement.

The rest of the group looked uncomfortably at Rick and he just shook his head. Daryl huffed in disgust and turned away. Retrieving a pickaxe off the floor , he whistled to Jim to come help him with the corpses.

Lexi also moved away and began to build the pyre that would burn the walker bodies. After lighting it , she waved to let them know they could start to bring the bodies over. That's when they hit their next moral dilemma.

Daryl and Morales took a hold of one of the bodies and started to drag it towards Lexi, Glen, who was clearly upset, began to shout at them. Apparently it had been decided that they would bury their dead and just burn the geeks. The men changed direction and hauled the body over to the other side of camp. Daryl was clearly not impressed with this idea and shouted,

"Y'all had this coming, you left my brother for dead." He stormed off and lexi smiled to herself. Daryl might seem quiet but he had a wicked temper and this group of morons were going to experience it in full if they didn't stop pressing Daryl's buttons. Lexi couldn't wait.

When the smell of burning flesh got too much to bear, Lexi moved towards Daryl.

"If they want to bury their loved ones, then maybe we should give Merles hand a good send off too." Lexi suggested to her brother. Daryl looked sideways at her and began to chew his bottom lip.

"Ain't got it." He said, "I threw it at the young punk to try and scare him into telling us where china man was."

Lexi stared at him for a few seconds and Daryl started to edge away. He wasn't scared of Lexi as such, it was just that sometimes she made him feel like a kid again and she had a way of putting him in his place. Although he would never admit it to anyone, he loved the way Lexi cared about him and he hated it when she was disappointed in him. He loved his sister more than anyone else in the world. She had always been his rock when it all got too much.

When he had got lost in the woods as a kid, he had thought no one was looking for him. He remembered coming home to an empty house and he had been angry that everyone was out. He went into the kitchen and that's when he saw the sandwich on the table with a note which read,

'Daryl, sit down , eat the food, milk in chiller, out looking for you, don't move your butt out the house till I get back, Lexi xxx'

When Lexi had returned home, he had thrown his arms around her, she had hugged him back and then whooped his ass good for scaring her, that's when he knew she would always look out for him and he vowed to do the same for her.

At this precise moment though he wasn't so sure that she had his best interests at heart. She was looking at him with a strange expression on her face, then she started to laugh

"Oh my god," she giggled "Merle would have your balls for that, but he would love the fact that his hand could still scare someone even when he's not attached to it."

They both quietly laughed at the thought of Merles face if he ever found out what Daryl had done.

Their happy mood didn't continue for long when they heard Jaqui shouting. She was pointing at Jim and telling everybody he'd been bit.

Daryl walked up to Jim, "Show us." He demanded and pointed his finger at Jims T-shirt. Lexi could tell that the man was getting agitated and was proved right a moment later when Jim grabbed a spade and flung it around. T-Dog grabbed him from behind and Daryl moved forward and lifted his top.

There for everyone to see was an angry looking bite. Daryl recoiled away in horror, as did everyone else. Jim kept saying he was ok and Lexi wondered how detached he was from reality.

Again Rick and Shane took control of the situation and started to argue with the group about what to do. Rick was pushing for the group to go to Atlanta and the CDC, while Shane thought Fort Benning was a better option.

Daryl was more concerned with sorting out the immediate problem of Amy and Jim. Lexi looked across at her brother and saw him eyeing Jim over his shoulder. She instinctively reached for her gun as Daryl swiftly turned and headed towards Jim with the pickaxe raised. Rick and Shane were equally quick to react and Rick pulled his gun on Daryl.

"We don't kill the living." Rick said as Shane put himself between Daryl and Jim.

"That's funny, coming from a man who's pointing a gun at my brothers head." Lexi replied to Rick, as she brought her own gun up to Ricks temple. Turning her head slightly Lexi hissed to Daryl, "Put the goddamn axe down before you hurt someone."

Daryl dropped the axe on the floor and stormed away. Lexi then eyed Rick "Hold a gun to Daryls head again and I will not hesitate to shoot you., do we understand each other?" Rick nodded and slowly put his gun away.

Lexi turned to go find Daryl and was met with the angry face of Lori, "How dare you threaten my husband, all he was trying to do was protect Jim from your psycho brother. My god, what kind of people are you? Did your parents never teach..." Lori got no further with that sentence. Lexi brought her right fist up and slammed it into Loris' face.

"Never, ever get in my face again about behaving properly, you stuck up lazy two faced bitch." Lexi screamed. "Just who the hell do you think you are. You swan around camp like you own it, yet you do absolutely nothing to help anyone if it doesn't benefit you. Now your prick of a husband has turned up and you seem to think that we should all toe the line and do as we're told. Well it ain't gonna happen with me."

Lexi was about to reveal Loris' sordid little secret when they all became aware of Amys' body reanimating. Everybody with a weapon stepped forward in case Andrea needed help. She didn't and moments later Amy fell dead for a second time with a bullet in the brain.

Daryl and Lexi were driving their truck up the hill with the camps deceased members in the back, when Lexi turned to Daryl and asked "Just outta interest, what were you thinking when Carol put that axe in her husbands head?"

Daryl chewed on his thumb for a minute, then shrugged and said "Dunno really, she must have really hated him. What did you think?"

"That I wish I could have done that to our darlin' Daddy, but the bastard had to die before all this happened."

"You shouldn't have hit the bitch y'know. You shouldha' just told her to fuck off and walked away." Daryl murmured quietly.

"So speaks the voice of reason, they all just get on my last nerve. Not one of them could survive out here if it wasn't for us. They think they know all about us and they know nothing." Lexi was fighting back tears of anger and sorrow. The Dixons had their own problems, but because they kept to themselves and didn't talk to others, the rest of the group saw them as misfit rednecks.

Daryl gently squeezed Lexi's hand and then said "Prepare for round two."

Lexi looked to where Daryl was indicating and saw Rick and Shane waiting by the graves. The siblings jumped out of the truck and made their way over.

"Thought we decided to burn the bodies." Daryl said. "Now Chinaman gets upset and we have to go through this?"

The rest of the group had made their way up the hill by now and overheard Daryls comments. Lori, who was sporting a beautiful black eye, came forward and said "We need to grieve and we need to bury our dead. It's what we do."

The Dixons stood to the side and watched Andrea hauling Amys body towards the grave. Dale was hovering in case she needed help and Lexi thought that he was probably the kindest man in camp. Although she wouldn't admit it, Lexi liked Dale and always said hello to him when she passed him. He was like the father she wished she'd had.

Things settled down in camp for a couple of hours until Rick called them all together. Shane and he had decided that the group should head for the CDC. Rick was convinced they could cure Jim and that everyone would be safe there.

Everyone left to start packing. They were leaving early in the morning. Daryl put Merles bike on the back of the truck, while Lexi packed up their few belongings. Neither of them knew what to expect in Atlanta, but both of them had a sense of foreboding. They didn't trust people generally and the government particularly, having found that people lie to you and the latter group were masters at it. They both felt uneasy and tragically they were right to.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

*Flashback*

_Josh walked into the kitchen, "Mommy, stwange lady in yard." The little boy pointed with his finger to the window. Lexi looked up from where she was gathering kitchen knives into a canvas rucksack and saw Mrs Cartwright from across the road shuffling towards the house...Except that now the woman was missing part of her neck and her dress was ripped open showing numerous bite marks._

_Lexi dropped to the floor and gathered Josh to her. "Listen very carefully to me Josh. We have to be very quiet and pretend that we are little mice trying to hide from the big bad cat. Can you do that sweetheart?"_

_The three year old nodded solemnly and then whispered "Or we can be hunters like Uncle Dawyl, ain't dat wight mommy?" and, to emphasise his point, he brought his little finger to his lips and made a shushing noise._

_Lexi smiled at her son and hugged him closer. After a minute Lexi settled Josh on the floor and slowly stood up to retrieve the bag, as soon as her head appeared there was a loud bang on the window and Lexi stared into the dead eyes of her neighbour. The woman was snarling and growling. Her torn fingers were trying to break the window._

_Lexi picked Josh up and pushed his head into the crook of her neck. "Keep your eyes shut sweetheart; mommy's going to take you somewhere safe, ok?" She felt his little head nod and picking up the bag Lexi proceeded to leave the kitchen._

_As she entered the dining room, she heard the patio door open and swirled round, Jack, her next door neighbour stood there looking at her with frightened eyes._

"_We have to get out of here." He shouted, "My cars in the driveway, c'mon quick."_

_Lexi moved forward towards him and Jack held out his arms to take Josh, "We can move faster if I carry him." He explained. At that moment there was a loud bang from the other side of the house and Lexi made a decision, reluctantly she handed Josh to Jack, picked up the bag of knives and unlocked her gun._

"_Let's go." She shouted and together they left the house._

_Outside it seemed to be fairly quiet and they crept along the side wall until they reached the driveway. Lexi put her hand on Jacks shoulder to convey they should wait a moment, but Jack could see his car and took off towards it, Lexi swore and made to follow him when Jack was suddenly surrounded by three walkers. The man was absolutely terrified by this point and practically threw a screaming Josh at them as he raced to his car._

_Lexi let out her own scream as she rushed towards her son, without thinking she aimed her gun and fired three shots, her aim was deadly and the walkers all dropped. Lexi fell to her knees and gathered Josh to her. He had bites all over his arms and face. Lexi just sat on the drive and rocked Josh back and forth, she knew he was dead and she knew she would have to take care of him, she just couldn't do it at that moment._

_Suddenly she heard the roar of a bike and the squealing tyres of a truck as they both came to a stop at the end of the drive. Merle and Daryl ran up shouting lexi's name. The brothers stopped short at the sight that greeted them. They watched as their tough as nails sister turned towards them and with a broken sob pointed at a stationary car and said "Kill that son of a bitch, he fed Josh to them to save his own ass."_

_Merle let out an animalistic roar as he stormed towards the car. Using the butt of his rifle he smashed the window and dragged Jack out through it. He didn't care that the jagged glass was tearing into Jacks side. When the man was free, Merle started to kick and punch him with all the force he had,_

"_You bastard, you fucking bastard. How could you? He was only a baby. That kid meant the world to us and you killed him." Merle was now to all intents and purposes kicking a corpse. He didn't think the bastard was worth a bullet and so he lifted his leg and brought his foot down as hard as he could on Jacks skull. He heard a satisfying crunch. When the frenzied attack was over, Merle slid down the car and looked across at Lexi. He couldn't stop the tears when he saw the devastating sight before him._

_Daryl, who was openly crying, was trying to get lexi to let go of Josh. Lexi was holding on to her little boy and screaming, Merle stood up and walked over to the pair. Being surprisingly gentle with his sister, he got Daryl to hold her while he pulled Josh from her arms._

"_C'mon suger, y'all know what we need to do. Say g'bye and ol' Merle will take care of him."_

_Lexi nodded and lent forward to kiss Josh "Goodbye sweet boy, I'll miss you every day." Lexi then turned into Daryls chest and had a complete meltdown._

_While Daryl practically carried Lexi to the truck. Merle took his nephews body back round the side of the house. He laid the little boy down on the ground and started to cry. Big, tough Merle Dixon was heartbroken. He had loved Josh as if he was his own. Merle pulled out his knife and with one swift thrust Josh was at peace. Merle carried the body over to the tree house and climbed the ladder, he laid Josh down on the floor, his thinking was if Josh was high enough none of those things could eat him._

_Climbing down,, Merle was about to rejoin his siblings when he heard a noise coming from the house. Walking towards what he knew was his sisters bedroom window, he peered through the glass._

_His brother-in-law Terry was stumbling round the bedroom. He was obviously a walker and Lexi had definitely locked him in there. Merle just shrugged and walked back to the truck._

_*_Present*

Lexi woke to the smell of coffee brewing. As she exited the tent Daryl handed her a cup.

"Drink that, then we'll break down the tents." Daryl said. She looked around camp, everyone was subdued as they went about their business. Lexi looked across at Andrea. The woman had obviously not slept much as she had dark circles under her eyes. Gathering herself, Lexi walked over to the grieving woman.

Andrea looked up, "Come to gloat have you? To tell me that this is karma for Merle."

Lexi crouched down in front of Andrea and said in a low voice "No, I just wanted to pay my condolences to you and to say that what you did for Amy yesterday was very brave. I know how difficult that decision is to make."

Lexi stood up and wandered back to her tent to begin dismantling it. Andrea stared at her retreating back, not sure what to make of that conversation but knowing that Lexi had confided something to her, but what?...

When the group was ready to go, the two cops gave information about which frequency the walkie talkies would operate on. Morales stepped forward and told everyone they would not be joining them, they mentioned Birmingham and family and that was where they were heading.

Rick, ever the good Samaritan, then gave morales a gun and box of ammo. Daryl didn't approve of this and snorting turned away as the families said goodbye, Lexi just sneered and then climbed in to the truck.

They all set off in convoy, with Daryls truck second to last. The siblings didn't talk for a while until Daryl broke the silence, "Y'know we should'da left Jim back at camp. There ain't no cure in Atlanta, hell there prob'ly ain't no CDC either."

Lexi nodded her head and continued to watch the countryside pass by. The occasional walker catching her attention.

They had been on the road a while when the group stopped. Jaqui informed them that Jim no longer wished to continue and wanted to be left at the roadside. Rick and Shane both mentioned that they were not happy with doing that. Lexi got right in their face "It ain't your decision, It's Jims. So get off your high horses and do what the man wants you to do."

Everyone said goodbye to Jim, Daryl nodded his head and turned away, Lexi offered him a small smile and turned away too.

Back on the road, the next stop was the CDC.

It was almost dusk when the convoy arrived at the CDC. They all got out of their vehicles and instantly started to gag at the stench coming from the decomposing bodies that littered the area around the building. Trying to stay together, the group moved towards the doors. Daryl, Lexi and T-dog took up position at the rear.

Rick started to hammer on the metal. All lexi could think was 'You fucking idiot, could you make any more noise if you tried'. The children were beginning to whimper as it became obvious that the doors were not going to open.

Suddenly Daryl shouted "Walker" and fired a bolt into its head. The women really started to panic then and Daryl turned on Rick.

"You've brought us to a fucking graveyard." He snarled.

Dale who was trying to keep the peace said "He made a call,"

"Well it was the wrong damn call" Lexi hissed.

Shane was instantly in the two Dixons faces "Shut the hell up the pair of you." He then turned to Rick, "We could still go to Fort Benning, its still an option."

"On what , fresh air?" Lexi mocked. "It's 150 miles in the opposite direction, we don't have enough fuel."

Lori, who was clutching her son, Carl, to her waded in to the argument, "We can't be this close to the city after dark,"

Everybody was in agreement that they should get in their vehicles and head away from Atlanta, everybody that is except Rick. The man kept hammering on the door, screaming that he saw the camera move.

Daryl looked across at Lexi and said "If that fucker don't shut it, I'm gonna put an arrow in him."

Suddenly the entire group was blinded by a bright light. When their eyes adjusted, they could see that the doors were open. The group all rushed forward, hoping against hope that this was indeed the safe zone that Rick thought it was.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Once inside the CDC, everyone calmed down and looked around. They heard a gun cock and stared over at a middle-aged man holding a rifle to their heads.

"Who are you?" he asked "And what do you want?"

"My name is Rick Grimes and all we want is a chance." Rick replied, stepping forward.

"That's asking a lot these days. I'm Dr Edwin Jenner. If I let you in, you must all agree to a blood test, that's my terms of entry."

Rick nodded, "We can do that."

Lexi looked at Daryl, "When did he become our spokesman?" She asked. Daryl just shrugged and grinned at his sister.

"I think it's the hat, makes him think he's important." Lexi mused. At this Daryl did laugh and the group turned to the two Dixons only to be met with blank stares back.

The group huddled into the elevator and Jenner pressed the button to go down. Daryl watched the doctor for a few minutes before asking "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?"

Jenner smiled before answering "Just a precaution, but you all seem harmless enough. Except you," Jenner said jokingly, looking down at Carl, "I'll have to keep my eye on you."

"Well that'll make a change." Lexi quipped, "Cos his mother sure as hell don't."

Lori turned angrily towards Lexi, but before she could retort, the elevator doors opened and everybody exited the small box.

As they all walked towards the room Jenner was going to take the blood samples in, Lori confronted Lexi about her earlier comment.

"Why would you say something so horrible?" Lori was clearly annoyed that her mothering skills had been called into question.

"Cos it's true, you leave that boy with anybody who'll look after him. He's your responsibility, you selfish bitch. If you didn't want kids you shouldn't have had him." Lexi was equally angry.

"You know nothing about bringing children up and the pressure of being a mother." Lori shot back.

At this point Daryl stepped in, "Git y'self back to your husband and kid. We ain't talkin' bout this no more. Now leave us be."

"She started it with her big mouth." Lori argued.

"An' I'm finishing it. Now fuck off." Daryl snarled.

As Lori walked away, Daryl turned to his sister. Lexi had gone white as a sheet and was shaking with anger. "I'm gonna kill her, how dare she talk to me like that." Lexi whispered.

"Calm down sis, she don't know nothing about nothing, let's keep it that way." Daryl was desperate to keep a lid on Lexi's temper. He was also gutted that the ghost of Josh would now haunt the pair of them that night.

After the blood was taken, Jenner showed them to the cafeteria. The group were in high spirits as they ate more food in one sitting than they had had for weeks. The alcohol was also flowing, making most of the adults feel happier. Carl tried some wine but was not that impressed and went back to drinking his soda.

Daryl seemed to be on a mission to get Glen absolutely shit-faced and everybody was laughing and joking. Everybody that was except Lexi and Jenner. The doctor was sat quietly in the corner watching the proceedings with a sad look on his face. He would occasionally smile if one of the group caught his eye, but he did not participate in the conversations.

Lexi, on the other hand was feeling particularly morose. Thoughts of her little boy, at the forefront of her mind. When she looked across at Lori and Carol sat with their children, a blinding anger came over her. All she could think about was the way Lori dumped Carl on people and that Carol had never really protected Sophia from her father.

Lexi had never left Josh with anyone other than her husband or her brothers and then only with Merle if he was clean. As for letting someone hurt Josh , Lexi would have killed them in a blink of an eye and felt no remorse. Thinking about her husband brought back more painful memories of that awful day.

*Flashback*

_Lexi was watching the news with a look of horror on her face. This really couldn't be happening, could it? She turned as the front door opened and Terry came into the lounge. He was clearly in pain and was holding his shoulder. Blood was seeping through his fingers and his clothes were saturated._

"_Oh my god, what happened?" Lexi gasped as she moved quickly to try to help Terry. Picking up a clean towel from the laundry hamper on her way past, she peeled his clothes off his shoulder and winced when she saw the tattered skin where he had been bitten. Applying pressure to the wound with the towel, she looked into his face and asked again, "What happened?"_

_Terry, by now, was having trouble speaking. The pain was incredible and all he wanted to do was lie down, but his wife was waiting for an answer, so gritting his teeth, he replied "Some down and out attacked me. Just grabbed me and bit my shoulder. I pushed him off and drove home. Lex, sweetheart, I really don't feel well, I think I'll go lie down for a bit."_

_Lexi nodded her head and followed Terry to the bedroom. After making sure he was comfortable, she kissed him on his forehead and whispered "See you when you wake up, love you."_

"_Love you too." Terry replied sleepily._

_Leaving the bedroom, Lexi quietly shut and locked the door. She slid down the frame sobbing. She wasn't stupid, she had seen the reports on T.V. and knew that those words were the last thing Terry would ever say to her. _

_Making a decision, Lexi moved to the room next door where Josh was having his nap. She woke him gently and carried him through to the lounge. Turning off the T.V. she placed Josh down near his toys, and within full view of the kitchen._

"_Mommy's just gonna be in the kitchen, if you see anybody near the house, you come to me ok?"_

_Josh nodded his head and picked up his favourite toy. Lexi then ran to the Knife draw._

_*_Present*

Lexi was brought out of her musings by the voice of Shane asking Jenner where all the other doctors were. Rick glared at him and muttered about how this was not the time.

"No wrong Rick, this was your great plan, to come here and get some answers, instead all we find is one guy. Him." Shane responded, pointing towards Jenner.

Lexi looked at the doctor as he replied "There is only me. Everyone else either left to be with their families or stayed in the hope of finding a cure. When it became obvious that there wasn't one, most of them opted out. It was very bad here."

"But you didn't, you stayed. Why?" Lexi persisted.

"I made a promise to someone, I promised to stay till the end." Jenner answered sadly. Then he seemed to rally himself and clapping his hands said "Well if you all have finished eating, I'll show you where you can sleep."

They followed their host down a corridor as Jenner told them where to find beds for the night and told the kids about the games room. "Just go easy on the power and don't plug any games consoles in, ok?" He explained. Turning to the adults, he said "The same goes for you. If you have a shower, don't run the hot water for long." And with that, he walked away.

"Did he say hot water?" T-Dog laughingly asked.

"That's what I heard." Glen said and rushed off to find a room.

Soon there was only Daryl and Lexi left in the corridor. They looked around before choosing two rooms that had a connecting door. Lexi raised her eyebrows at her brother as he checked to make sure the door was unlocked.

Daryl turned round and shrugged his shoulders before saying "Might need something in the night from each other." He looked away again chewing on his thumbnail, a sure sign that he was upset and worried. Lexi knew he was thinking she might have nightmares and she appreciated the gesture of loyalty. Daryl was a private man and the thought of anyone except him coming into the room if Lexi did start screaming in her sleep was not one he was comfortable with.

"I think I'll go have that hot shower they're all so excited about." Lexi said as she stretched. "Oh and Daryl? I suggest you do the same, you smell worse than Grampa's pigs." Laughing she shooed him through the door in to his own room.

When the door closed, Daryl stood, staring at it for a time, lost in his own thoughts. He knew that Lori's harsh words had hit his sister hard, but he was at a loss to know what to do. He had never been good with emotions and Lexis meltdown in the truck at the loss of her son, his nephew, had been the hardest thing he had ever experienced.

He walked slowly to the bathroom and turned the shower on. Climbing in, he let his mind wander back.

*Flashback*

_Pulling up onto the drive behind Merle, Daryl could see the huddled shape of Lexi rocking something in her arms. He jumped out of the cab and shouted to try and get her attention. Both brothers stilled as they realised what she was holding._

_Daryl could see Lexi's lips moving and saw her point at a car, but he couldn't comprehend the words. All he saw was the bloodied body of little Josh. Working on automatic and with tears blinding him, he stumbled over to his sister. Kneeling down beside her, he made a motion to take the body from her, but Lexi tightened her grip and screamed at Daryl to leave her alone._

_Looking up, he saw Merle bring his foot down on the mans head and then turn to stare at Lexi and Daryl. It was in that moment that Daryl saw Merles heart shatter into a thousand pieces. His big man who would laugh at you for showing any emotion, who would beat you to a pulp and not care, was heartbroken._

_Walking over to his younger siblings, he gently took Josh out of Lexi's arms and with a jerk of his head indicated that Daryl should get Lexi in the truck. Daryl practically carried lexi over to the cab and once he had got her settled with a blanket round her, he then turned his attention back to the house, waiting for Merle to reappear._

_He watched Merle move quickly up the drive, only stopping to pick up the discarded bag of knives. Throwing the bag onto the truck bed he made his way to Daryls side. Both brothers were whispering, they didn't want to upset Lexi any more than they had to._

"_Where the hell is Terry? We need to find him and let him know what's happened," Daryl said urgently._

_Merle looked at the house and then at Daryl, "Already found him, don't think he'll be that interested though."_

"_What makes ya say that?" Daryl demanded, "He thinks the world of Lex and little'un."_

"_Cos he's turned, ain't that right Merle?" Lexi asked, looking at both of them through the window._

_*_Present_*_

Daryl turned the water off and exited the shower. After he was dry and dressed in clean clothes, he padded across the room and tapped gently on the door. When he got no reply, he slowly opened the door and peered round. The room was in semi darkness, apart from a single lamp on the table. Daryl could make out the shape of Lexi under the covers and he walked over to make sure she was ok.

Lexi was dead to the world. All the emotions of the day had exhausted her and Daryl could only hope that she stayed asleep till morning.

Pulling the covers up further, Daryl leant over and whispered "Night Lex, Hope you only have sweet dreams."

Then turning, he switched off the light and left the room as quietly as he entered.

TBC


End file.
